The Wrong Side of Heaven - Republic Invasion of Alderaan (Knights, Padawans, NFUs only)

[Veino Garn]

Location: Temple roof
Allies: [member="Ashin Varanin"] [member="Kian Karr"] [member="Parmi Miemant"] [member="Ricardt Darkmourne"] [member="Uther Weiss"]
Enemies: No one at the moment

------------

Veino paused as the melee moved away from the roof. He frowned. This was wasting time more than anything else. The goal was not to engage every Sith in the area in a duel. That stalled the flow of the battle and its location made it impossible to liberate the temple. He slowly tapped the parapet. There had to be another way to do this. A thought struck him, sensing the fight below in the tunnels. He activated his secure comlink, "Those engaging Sith, draw them away from the temple. Once there's an opening in the defenses we can move in to clear the building and dig in. Just need to keep the Sith occupied."

He ducked beneath the wall as Sith blaster fire chewed through the wall, sending hot shards flying towards them. He used the Force to divert them and sending them hissing towards [member="Matsu Xiangu"], several of them snapping through the sound barrier, to buy Ashin some more time, eyes scanning the rest of the area. What could he do to liberate the planet without causing needless loss of life? The mass executions of the Fel Imperium still haunted his dreams. The rage and darkness that lingered and thrived and grew, even as they attempted to eradicate it, corrupting, contaminating, mocking. He shuddered, and let it seep into the light. He relaxed some. Never again. Never again would he be party to such atrocities, even if they were to protect the galaxy. The price was simply too much. He crawled back from the parapet to use the floor (from his perspective) as better cover. His jaw tightened. Think. Think. What were his best skills?

Not combat oriented, that was for sure. Mostly emotional and mental, actually. Which was rather odd, since he had never imagined that happening. Even his combat abilities were only so good at large scale battles. It's not like he could just shower every Sith combatant in the area with a barrage of small, quickly moving objects. Unless he actually could. There was no reason he couldn't after all. Theoretically at least. It'd push him so far past his current level of confidence though that he'd be in unexplored territory. As far as he was aware, not even any of the Jensaarai council members had attempted such a thing.

And what of the consequences? Even if he did manage to pull it off, who would be injured or killed? He could only stretch his awareness so far, and he couldn't be precise enough for the entire area to select the targets with any large degree of accuracy. Even if he kept the speed to less than maximum, it could still kill and severely injure dozens. Which would put him squarely in the same place as the Imperium, morally speaking. Nausea coiled in his stomach. He couldn't do that. But if it saved a planet, was it worth it? Could it even make a difference though? These would not be anything large or explosive. Mostly pebbles and slivers of stone accelerated beyond the sound barrier to slugthrower speeds. Essentially shwering the entire battlefield in thousands of slugs. It'd have no impact on the armor. Infantry would vary. As would Force users. He bit his lip. Then he stopped and stepped back. This was why the codes existed.

I am the Protector of Justice. I know no emotions, I know the truth of the Force. I am the Protector of Worlds. I know the Power of the True Force. I am the defender of the True Way. The universe knows not of my existence. I pledge myself to the Jensaarai for I have found true life in the protection of the people I love.

Discipline given to honor, Courage given to others, Sacrifice for kin, Aggression for Victory, Service for Truth.

Those were less than helpful at the moment. Nor was there any expert in the codes to give guidance. He would have to make this decision himself as war raged and thundered around him, pitting light against dark, strengthening the dark with each death either caused. What they needed was light bright enough to pierce through it. Not that it would need much. Even a candle could dispel the darkness in a room. The question was how could he display it? What created the brightest light in the Force? He pounded his fist on the stone beneath him. Why couldn't he be better at thinking things through like this and always knowing how to act?

 

[Mantorok]

LOCATION: Forest Near Republic Base Camp
ALLIES: One Sith, [member="Countess of Báthory"], [member="Silara Vantai"]
ENEMIES: Republic, [member="Kian Karr"], [member="Tugoro Taidarious"]
OBJECTIVE: A chit-cat, cup of caff, you know...

Even after his roar of war had startled every bird in a two mile radius he was left rumbling, like the engines of machines tuned for war the Chistori practically thundered with every breath. He was on edge, left confused and thirsting for blood in the middle of the forest.

The Kel Dor who came out into his range of existence was greeted with a vicious snarl and mild spray of saliva but there were no instant strike downs.

In a galaxy plagued by war, it was refreshing to see a soul that was ready to talk first and then perhaps fight later. Invasion, after invasion, after invasion. It had been a long time since people started asking questions before they fired. Who am I killing, and why? The galaxy had given up, there was no room for compassion and understanding. It was chaos, it was death.

However, upon speculation. Perhaps Mantorok wasn't the right skin to wear when raising that issues, after all the Chistori loved this constant state of death and destruction, tickled his fancy.

There was a moment, a twinge in his mind that somewhat soothed the belly of the beast, but not entirely. Mantorok was here for war, and he found himself craving, but why not engage the Kel Dor in conversation first? Build up an appetite first, make the kill all the sweeter when it came to him.

“AND WHY WOULD YOU DO SUCH A THING FOR MANTOROK?”

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=9pt]LOCATION: Temple Entrance
ALLIES: [member="Ferian Adair"] | OS[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt]ENEMIES: [member="Ashin Varanin"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She had known when accepting the call to join the invasion that she might see some of her fellow Fringers in the fray, and not necessarily on her side, so seeing Varanin was no great shock. She could say with confidence that she could go back to the Outer Rim and work with the Jedi Knight with no hard feelings or pesky awkwardness whatsoever (hey, yeah, sorry about the rocks, war and all that), but at the moment she had a job to do. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] It would be easy to ride off the heady rush of a bit of success when she saw Ashin lift off the ground and even easier when some of her projectiles managed to break through the barrier the Jedi had erected. But Matsu wouldn’t celebrate until she was done – overconfidence led to sloppiness and that was something she couldn’t afford and certainly not in this particular match. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Matsu had foregone most training with her saber in pursuit of perfecting mentalism, experimenting with its uses and diving so deep that its use was second nature. Telekinesis augmented her ability to stand her own ground but she stood at a disadvantage if she allowed her opponent to get too close. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] She was stalking parallel to Varanin’s movements, a wolfish predatory expression on her face, when the searing sound of blaster fire caught her attention. It was at the last second that she threw up her hand to redirect the bolts, though in her insistence on keeping Varanin in view she felt a bolt rip through the fabric of her shirt, burning a shallow path through the skin of her natural arm and drawing a hiss from her. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Without realizing it she’d allowed Varanin that much closer in the seconds it had taken her to deflect the bolts and she in response she let the current of rage from which she drew power to pool in to something more refined (control, control – some explode and halve planets but I slide in and freeze them, control!). Still a moving target she pushed outwards with her mind and reached for Varanin’s, spidery-silent in her search before speaking in to Varanin’s mind. [/SIZE]

Don’t you have somewhere else to be?​

​

[SIZE=9pt]It was a quiet attempt at an intrusion at first, just sufficient to press enough of an opening to shove her way in entirely and inject sounds – unbearably high-pitched whistles, screaming, unnatural wails – all the distracting and disorienting things she could think of so that she might crack Varanin open and push harder.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] It was a trial – two different breeds of predator testing the waters until they clashed.[/SIZE]

 

[Cedric Dorn]

Location: Exit to Passage
Allies: [member="Atrace"] [member="Urak"] [member="Garth Hummel"] [member="Kezeroth the Hateful"]
Enemies: [member="Parmi Miemant"], [member="Uther Weiss"] [member="Ricardt Darkmourne"] [member="Laaba Rancisis"]
Objective: Defend
([member="Flint Dexen"] has been knocked out, I am free to move on)

“Sir. There's trouble bellow the temple.”

Kir heard a voice ringing in his ears, a tell of the remaining Royal Guardsmen within the Temple. He frowned slightly, looking down at the unconscious Jedi, then towards his commander. He saw that Orin was still busy fighting, and he knew that he was the only available reinforcements. With a hurried run the massive Power Armored Guardsmen rushed forward, his every step cracked concrete, heavy footfalls landing over and over again.

He trampled up the stairs, breaking and chipping thousand year old stone, jumping over several flights at one time in order to reach the top in an instant. It took him only a few moments, and before long he stood in the central passage of the Jedi Temple.

Lieutenant Kir looked over towards where a group of his men were standing.

“Sir, we saw a couple of Sith head in this passage, not sure where it goes. The tunnel itself seems quite large but uhhh...”

The soldier paused and Kir looked at him.

“The entrance is too small to fit us.”

The Lieutenant grimaced slightly, looking at the tunnel entrance and then at the massive power-armored soldiers. The tunnel itself was big enough for one of them to stand and walk through, but the entrance was...well secret. It would have to be widened. Frowning slightly Kir signaled to the rest of his guards. “Break it open.”

Massive power armored fists began tearing at stone.

 

[Myra Arceneau Dashiell]

LOCATION: Forest Near Republic Base Camp
ALLIES: One Sith, Countess of Báthory, [member="Silara Vantai"] [member="Mantorok"]
ENEMIES: Republic, [member="Kian Karr"], [member="Tugoro Taidarious"]
OBJECTIVE: So much ruckus.


Yes well, things were starting to get a bit crazy. Voxyn and all at the groups back and all was getting antsy --- more so when the Kel-Dor appeared into the fray, which was fabulous distraction as it took the attention off the Countess herself.

It was in this that the last Voxyn, would finally act out in notable hilarity, the series of rather unfortunate, and perhaps comic events. For all save Mantorok were a prize to be eaten. Talk about another kettle of giju.

Powerful hindquarters would bunch to attack the Countess, which caused her to stumble a bit with that skirt of hers as she went darting out of the way -- big hoop hunting skirts, while allowing pantaloons underneath, were not the best of gear out in the wild -- and then went bounding for [member="Kian Karr"].

A powerful sonic blast would come ripping from it's snout, determined to get one meal out of this.

Meanwhile, the Countess fell on her curvy arse.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

NEAR TEMPLE ENTRANCE

[member="Matsu Xiangu"]

The noise attack was a classic, elegant in its simplicity. She continued closing the distance, step by careful step, lightsabre raised, though she knew the effort was plain to be read on her face.

You learned this from Ovmar. He learned this from Spencer Jacobs.

She learned this from me.

Mental offense had never been her forte, but there'd been a time when she could consider herself impregnable to any one attack of any kind. That time was past, of course, but some kinds of mental defense didn't really change much when you found yourself cut off from the Force, booted back to Padawan. Granted, not all of that applied to a standard white-noise assault. Against that, there was only...focus. Willpower.

Two minor amulets flared to life against her breastbone, one warm, the other cool. The first was composed of a pair of Murr Earrings, a minor Matsu Ike creation that improved focus and clarity of mind. The other was a Korriban Compass, whose secondary role could yield a sort of tunnel vision. Dangerous, to be sure, and she resented needing them -- and resentment formed a pressure point Xiangu might recognize and be able to exploit in one way or another.

She continued to close the distance between them, step by step, a hard-edged smile embedded in her face.

 

[Urak]

Location: Temple Halls/Underground Passage
Enemies:Ricardt Darkmourne/Republic
Allies: Atrace/One Sith
Objective: Defend Atrace and kill the jedi

Urak, after seeing all these attacks start to be unleashed on him and his brother, got out his second lightsaber and put it together with his origional after quickly putting his blaster away.
Forming his lightsabers into a saber-staff, Urak defending both the jedi off, one lightsaber for each jedi, grinned.

He was excited. Two jedi against one sith, even the odds alittle better. He could feel his bloodlust surging in a rage. Easily defending his brother and himself with his saber-staff.

Urak did not know JUST how to defend, he was adept at illusion. Multiple quick-illusionary slices appeared at both jedi very quickly, they couldnt have time to determine which is the real lightsaber. The illusions, tricking both jedi, knowing they cannot defend against all of these, cut off an arm from each jedi with his saber-staff and uses force push to push them back near ricardt.

Urak, as he has been saving his force energy up for a moment like this, ((notice how this was my first force attack so far)) had much more energy to spend. There was no way he could lose. His brother Atrace, should be fine in just a few seconds now.

((note: the two jedi i attacked in this, is Parmi, and Laaba))

 

[Grrwunhoooll Agaburry]

Location: Passage Exit
Allies: [member="Lieutenant Kir"] | [member="Atrace"] | @Utrak | [member="Garth Hummel"]
Enemies: [member="Parmi Miemant"] | [member="Ricardt Darkmourne"] | [member="Uther Weiss"]
Objective: Crush...

Kezeroth Reach the top and from his angle he was couple feet above two Allies [member="Atrace"] and [member="Urak"], Feeling the Ground and then making a Fist Kezeroth brought up a Painful memory of his Torture Years ago useing it to Augment his Strength make him Stronger! The Gen'Dais Fist slammed into the ground multipule times intill the flooring was no more and it collapsed in a small hole. Kezeroth jumping down causing a Shake, couple meters away from the Acolytes now. Taking alittle jog to the Passage Enterance Kezeroth looked at the Tunnel and smiled big. Kezeroth nodded at [member="Lieutenant Kir"] and his men before saying " Step away.. "

Kezeroth focusing on the Enterance started useing Force Crush to help get the Tunnel slightly bigger so Kezeroth could fit in and do his thing. Once Kezeroth saw it at a Good Size He Rammed his way in Useing his Gen'Dai Strength and fit through more. Kezeroth taking out his Light-Pike stopped suddenly Realizing something.

- This is a Tunnel!- He thought able to hear the combat further down.

Getting into a Good heavy stance and inhaling very Deep Kezeroth's Eyes Flashed and he started to Release a Force Scream. Loud Enough on its own and now the sound was Amplified by the Tunnel, Kezeroth made use not to make it strong enough to Collapse but only Strong Enough to Hurt the Ears to the point Of ringing to anyone down the tunnel fighting. After his Scream Kezeroth looked back and waved [member="Lieutenant Kir"] to come and Advance.

 

[Atrace]

LOCATION: Temple tunnels
ALLIES:the One Sith
ENEMIES:Republic

Atrace felt sick to his stomach he looked around, the room was spinning. Atrace saw a crimson double-bladed saber block parmi's and The Strangers strikes, Atrace knew that Urak was buying him time he jumped behind his brother and readied his saber.

Atrace felt the effects of Ricardts attack begin to subside, it was only a matter of time before he would be able to strike at the jedi once more. He watched as Urak gracefully swung his saber he could tell the jedi were having a hard time fighting Uraks illusionary tactics, Atrace heard something above him it was Kezeroth. Kezeroth let out a mighty screech which seemed to release atrace from the effects of Ricardts attack. Atrace now able to fight once more jumped infront of Ricardt "looks likes the game is over jedi, backups here" Atrace formed an offensive stance the dark lord wants blood and Atrace planned to give the lord his wish..

Atrace used the force stasis technique to immobilize Ricardt, He then prepared to end the jedis life

 

[Kamon's OOC]

Location: Forest
Allies: Jedi/Republic
Enemies: [member="Sosu Deviron"] and [member="Nazo"]
Objective: Keep going

She landed with a thud, feeling suddenly less like herself. As she lay there, her opponent wandered off with a comment that they would face each other again, as both of his arms were out of sockets and one of them was actually quite broken. She would take that. Better than nothing. Of course, for quite a while she'd survived without using the Force at all, so this wasn't that bad. It could be worse. She was alive, just a bit more tired than she normally would be. Granted, Matukai techniques could take care of that. If she had enough time to use those techniques.

When the other one spoke in her head, she realized she was still potentially in danger.

"He got enough to heal, most likely."

She winced as she pushed herself up to her knees. Slow down, Niamh. You need to catch your breath and take a little time here. You just got drained off the Force. Somewhat anyway. Use those things your master taught you. She drew on the Force and started strengthening herself again, using Matukai techniques to bring her stamina back.

"Will you stand in my way now?"

 

[Telthòr]

Location: Passage
Allies: Galactic Republic
Enemies: One Sith
Objective: We're not retreating, we're advancing in the opposite direction

Ricardt was caught by surprise as the massive snake-like creature shot past him, all four lightsabers igniting in a rainbow of dancing blades. When Urak engaged both the snake and Parmi, he was horrified that he had made such a move, and more-so confused at his ability to defend himself against six different lightsabers with only two in his hand. If anything, it was both impressive and defied common sense. He let Atrace retreat when Kezeroth slammed down, his lungs swelling wide. "Uh-oh," was all that came from the mouth of Ricardt.

Time seemed to slow, he dropped his lightsaber and held both his hands out in urgency. The now deactivated hilt clattered on the floor. The force gathered around Ricardt, and he embraced it. He began to pull with the energy, attempting to draw Parmi and Laaba to him with a force pull, before it was too late. He didn't waste time, the moment he had pulled he converted the energy into a physical form. Veins raised against his skin, adrenaline pumping in his blood. His heart beat with the sound of a war drum. A golden orb of light encased Ricardt, and hopefully Parmi and Laaba in time. The force scream slammed against the protection bubble, forcing Ricardt to take a step back at the sheer power.

When it was over, the Jedi was horrified to see Atrace unharmed. Sound waves do not simply go in a single direction, they send ripples in the air in all directions, bouncing off walls and back. Then Atrace attacked with a Force Stun, as Force Stasis was a Knight-level force ability, that which a mere Acolyte would be unable to perform without decades of meditation and experience. It slammed against his protection bubble, it buckled and shattered the energy. The golden light around the Jedi dissipated. "Run!" Ricardt roared to the Jedi and Republic troopers. He twisted his body around, reaching his hand out to bring his lightsaber back to him in a force pull. He broke into a break-neck sprint back down the tunnel, his sixteen troopers in tow.

[member="Parmi Miemant"], [member="Urak"] [member="Atrace"]

 

[Urak]

Location:Underground/Passage
Enemies: Jedi
Allies: Sith

((had no idea about the 6 lightsabers)) Urak, lays down after engaging those two. multiple cuts and slash marks across his body from the 6 sabers he was fighting. Urak lay against the passage wall with the screech echoing in his ears. Completely worn out from that fight.

Urak may be good with a saber-staff, but 6 sabers are overkill. So Urak was completely out of it.

[member="Ricardt Darkmourne"]

 

[Atrace]

Location: Underground Passage
Allies: The One Sith
Enemies: Jedi
Objective:Get Urak to Safety

Atrace watched as the jedi retreat, He heard a scream of pain as he heard Urak fall to the ground. Atrace rushed to Urak's side "you did good urak we have them running in fear." Uraks's wounds werent fatal but they were enough to immobilize him for some time, Atrace reached into his pack on his back pulling out a medpac Atrace applied the medpac to Urak healing his wounds; Atrace helped Urak onto his shoulder and left the tunnel. he could still hear the echo of his enemys retreat.

Atrace brought Urak to his allies waiting just outside the entrance: He Set Urak down besides Admiral Kir "take care of my brother Admiral i have to return to the fight." without hesitation Atrace made his way into the temple to regroup with Kezeroth for further strikes against the jedi

 

[Parmi Miemant]

Location: Passage
Allies: Galatic Republic
Enemies: One Sith [member="Urak"] | [member="Atrace"]
Objective: Currently, retreat.

The Togruta felt herself being suddenly pulled backwards. She sensed a more imminent danger than that of the current battle between Sith and Jedi. Parmi landed uncomfortably beside Ricardt and Laaba. Parmi watched as Ricardt employed the force with intense power, encasing the group with a golden orb of protection. Parmi felt the force scream slam itself against the wall her accomplice had created. Another attack had been pointed in his direction but Parmi watched as it merely collapsed the protective field surrounding them.
Ricardt's instructions echoed through the underground passageways. Parmi turned, ready to follow in Ricardt's footsteps. Urak attempted to confuse with his use of illusionary powers, surrounding her with multiples of himself. Parmi concentrated briefly. She used her montrals to sense the weight that the real enemy would occupy. Parmi felt that he was behind her, the ones who blocked her escape were only replicas. Parmi was thankful that her opponent was merely a Acolyte. Had she have been up against a Master or a Knight there would have been no difference between the weight of the illusions and the weight of the real Sith. Parmi sensed no immediate threat from the Sith. She knew when to choose her battles and right now she was choosing to retreat with the others. Parmi shot down the tunnel, joining her allies in retreat.

 

[Varus Ren]

OOC-Apologies, depending on the NPC I can be the same way myself, should’ve been more considerate.

Location: Not So-Secret Tunnels
Enemies: Parmi Miemant | Ricardt Darkmourne | Uther Weiss
Allies: [member="Lieutenant Kir"] Atrace Urak Kezeroth the Hateful
Objective: *Insert witty spin on objective here*


Precognition gave Garth milliseconds, maybe less. In a dark blur he jolted back, summoning up what connection to the force he had to hold back the shrapnel. But the ion grenades, crafty bastard had just neutralized his sabers. Even the reserve was out until he repaired it. Placing them back at his side, with the deactivation of his sabers, the young one was in the dark. He ruled in the dark.

Shink. There was a metallic noise as somewhere in the shadows, Hummel extended his assassin’s blade. Since he was a youngling Garth had been weak in the force by Jedi standards, the padawan probably had a higher level of potency in the force than he did. The minor telekinetic shielding had drained him significantly. But he made up for the lack of ability with incredible reflexes, and skill with weapons, of all kinds.

From the shadows, a smirk grew under his hood, tugging at scarred skin. “You have any idea who you’re helping kid?” He questioned. “What do you know about Metalorn?”

 

[Telthòr]

Location: Passage
Allies: Galactic Republic
Enemies: One Sith
Objective: Defeat Garth and regroup local Republic forces for next assault

Ricardt raced down the tunnels with his allies. The entrance had been widened so the Gen'dai and Royal Guard could attack them, but the long underground complex would be too small and hours of work for them to be able to effectively chase the Jedi Archaeologist. "Line the walls with demo charges, cave her in. I don't want those Sith getting through for some time," Ricardt said, ordering the Republic sergeant and his squad. The troopers broke off, staying back as they knelt down and began to line charges into the natural rock formations and hewn stone. Ricardt rested his hilt onto his weapons belt, his breathing heavy.

The darkness began to illuminate and he saw it. A few troopers lined the floor, blood oozing out from fresh wounds. Garth and Uther were at ends, vying for victory, and to save their own lives. Ricardt halted, a distant explosion alerted him to the explosives, then the rumble of earth as their retreat was blocked. The Umbaran didn't hesitate, he needed to regather and regroup the Republic forces, and Garth would only stall them. He held out his hands, focusing on the blood stream of Garth. He attempted to halt it for only a second. An ability known as Malacia, that would make the victim nauseous, dizzy and in some cases, violent vomiting. It would disable him, but not leave any lasting physical harm. As Ricardt tried this, he shouted to Uther, "How did he get down here? This place has been sealed off until we arrived!"

[member="Uther Weiss"] [member="Parmi Miemant"] [member="Garth Hummel"]

 

[Atrace]

location: Temple halls
Allies: One Sith
Enemies: republic
Objective: regain energy and find any sith that need assistance

Atrace walked through the halls of the temple until he found a suitable place for meditation he hated the idea of meditating in a place of light power but that last battle drained his energy dry. Atrace got into positiion getting intune with the darkside of the force to block out the light energy this temple was filled with Atrace used the memories he grew up with of war, death, and despair. Atrace began his meditation he used the force to see all the life around him he saw the dark energy clashing with light energy in the forest he saw light energy in the passage beneath him this did not bother Atrace for he knew that the sith could handle such a threat and his meditation wasw of top priority.

Atrace found himself in the calm of the temple it was oddly silent which he found odd due to the fact that these halls were filled with jedi clashing with sith just a few minutes ago. He noticed that the once pure place of jedi meditation was replaced with an eerie aura both light and dark the temple he knew would always be tainted even if the jedi did manage to reclaim it would never be the same.

Atrace found his energy and decided he will wait for Urak to be ready to strike before he will make his next move

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=9pt]LOCATION: Temple Entrance[/SIZE]
[SIZE=9pt][member="Ashin Varanin"] [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Ashin Varanin was a name Matsu would have to live under a rock on some backwater planet not to know. As it happened she had the distinct experience of having worked with the woman but that was no window in to the breadth of what she was capable of, only a demonstration that the list was long - she wasn’t surprised to feel a resistance, a hard layer of push-back that came when she encountered someone fighting off her reach in to their mind. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] The Jedi was getting closer, determination in a smile that didn’t seem to reach all the way to her eyes, and Matsu knew it was only a matter of time before she would have to draw her lightsaber. She would have to buy herself as much time as possible and use whatever injuries and fatigue her opponent took as an edge during their seemingly impending duel.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] It was just at that moment that she felt a crack, the probing push of her mind over Varanin’s finding a sliver of negative emotion just enough for Matsu to soften and fold over so that she might dive deeper. She drove harder with the overwhelming noise, adding pain to the mix – a lance of white-hot energy to compound the distraction as she built something that wasn’t there, tracking around Varanin with force-enhanced speed (like the act of shuffling a deck, where did I go?) as she multiplied her image once, twice, three times until there were six Matsu’s surrounding the Jedi.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Each mirrored the other perfectly, but Matsu knew that despite her effort she may only have seconds – if that – to use to her advantage. One of her clones ignited its saber, throwing it towards Varanin with a directness powered by telekinesis; another lifted her hand and began collecting a blast of lightning – each preparing its own attack on her opponent and releasing at the same time. But only the real Matsu pressed the air in front of her to try and Force grip on to Varanin, to wrap around and lift her in to the air, bend and crush before throwing her to regain the space between them.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=9pt] Of course if Ashin had been able to keep at bay Matsu’s initial probe there was nothing to say she couldn’t resist a more precise stab at her – the Sith Knight’s attack bet on the probability of only moments of time, small shots of power to wear Varanin out before they locked sabers. [/SIZE]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

NEAR TEMPLE ENTRANCE
[member="Matsu Xiangu"]


Pain was getting star-hot plasma through your arm, losing the arm, watching it flop on the ground like a fish. Pain was getting kicked in the breast that held a metastasized tumour, kicked by a Vaapad grandmaster who had fifty pounds of muscle on you. Pain was using that tumour as a weapon. Pain was Force Drain from a high-Master-level specialist who hated and despised you. Pain was Mnggal-Mnggal in your veins, Vong Shapers clawing your flesh into new shapes. Pain was five variants of Sith Poison burning through your blood for five to fifteen years apiece. Pain was radiation-burn across eighty percent of your body. Pain was Charon spines and claws, and fighting despite those radiation burns. Pain was watching your friends and family die because someone was hunting you. Pain was going mind-to-mind with a galaxy-shattering Dark Lord and losing hard. Pain was walking through a Force Storm, and not the weather kind.

Pain was chemo.

Now, all this experience didn't mean Ashin was immune to the pain, that it was objectively any less to her than it might be to someone else. It didn't mean she could shrug off a specialized attack from a specialized master. It didn't even mean that she could keep walking.

It did mean that when she closed her eyes and found her center, it came as a relief to enter stillness, darkness. In that arena, there was only her, pain, and instinct. Pain suffused her, found its place, gave her clarity; she kept tension out of it. Xiangu's duplicates launched their ephimeral assaults, but she had walked through the souls of Dark Lords and known them for phantoms, denied them power over her, passed unscathed. Illusion came in three to five flavours, depending on whom you asked, and mentalist illusion (like White Current, and to some extent like Sith Magic's illusions) only had power to injure so long as the nocebo effect was a factor. The pain, inserted through her mind into the brain stem, was real enough; the damage wasn't.

She kept her eyes closed as Xiangu's grip closed around her, a confident and unshakable telekinetic envelopment. The grip met a limning surge of Force protection, a shimmering aura, a shield. It bent her, to be sure, drove her to one knee, but when it came time to lift and throw her, she didn't move. Didn't budge an inch. In his day, Luke Skywalker had done this, anchored himself to a planet's core so that even the black hole at the centre of the galaxy could not have dislodged him. It had been Ashin's favorite complement to Force protection for many years now, favorite by far -- and she was finally strong enough to use it again, for more than just holding her balance on precarious balconies.

She launched no attack. This, right here, was why she'd been hated as a duellist. Vulnerable position, invulnerable aura, at least for the moment. Enough damage, enough persistence, could take down the aura, and she preferred to use it only in momentary bursts rather than try to claim comprehensive coverage.

Xiangu would use her immobility against her, or wait patiently until Ashin dropped the protection. That much was certain. Should it seem as if Xiangu was beginning to wait, Ashin would face another choice.

 

[Tugoro Taidarious]

Location: Forest
Ally: [member="Kian Karr"]
Enemy: Voxyn, [member="Countess of Báthory"]

The incredibly loud howl of the Voxyn would echo through the forest, after it had revealed itself of course. The creature had leaped from obscurity, hoping to strike it's own trainer apparently, in an act of rebellion, perhaps? The sudden appearance of the beast startled the boy slightly, having expected the female dark sider to lash out first instead. However, it seemed she had been taken by surprise, by a Voxyn that narrowly missed her. Leaping backwards as she did, Tugoro would keep his concentration of the lizard like hunter for now, watching as it's scaled body landed, beginning to advance on the Countess as she fell on her bottom. Examining the situation with caution, the young Jedi would take two key elements into consideration. One, being that he could leave right now, taking advantage of the attack that had befallen upon the Sith Knight. The second being, that the first one just didn't seem right. Most Jedi would probably act to aid their enemy, out of some sort of honor. Seeing as this creature could potentially hinder Tugoro himself, the Padawan would begin to act, having landed on a tree branch nearby. The beast would begin to open it's mouth, before screeching in order to emit powerful sonic blasts.

Seeing as the Countess had not attacked the young Jedi immediately, he would aim to aid her, lifting an arm and aiming it at the lizard-like animal. The force energy within and around him would begin to be put to work, surging forward as an invisible stream. Though it lacked power, the brown haired lad had managed to refine his telekinesis, capable of applying it in many advanced ways. Thanks to his rather studious mind, Tugoro began to form and manipulate the energy around the Voxyn, causing it to gather as a noose-like shape around it's neck. It would wrap around the creature's skin, before shrinking, hoping to create a tight enough bind to simply prevent the sonic blasts from ever being unleashed. As he employed his force choke, Tugoro could not help but feel comfortable, contemplating whether or not he was accessing the dark side. He had had many run ins with the powerful, dark energy source, and it intrigued him. Even so, he hoped to stray from it's path, maintaining the idea that he was doing it to aid another.

Meanwhile, Strike Squad would begin to fan out as the Keldor gave the order, each key member moving separately to maximize their chance of success. Mahrik, Rusher, and Viktor would form a triangle around their temporary leader and his enemy, along with the company of six other troopers, two being divided between each. They would all ready their weapons, and take aim, able to act on a moment's notice.